This sestina is about Mary Anning, one of the pioneering figures in early paleontology. During her life she was largely uncredited for her work and ended up having to sell the majority of her finds to museums and private collectors. The nursery rhyme "She Sells Seashells" is actually about her, which is how the public at large remembers her. The poem is predicated on the disconnect between being remembered as an anonymous nursery rhyme when the real story is much more compelling.

@Dick_Sheldon: This is actually a really annoying style of poem to write. Sestinas are based on repeating certain words at the end of each 6-line stanza with a coda containing all six repeat words at the end. Using words that sound similar or look similar to the original six is encouraged.

@Vivax I agree that this type of poem is annoying as hell to write. I had to write one for my creative writing class because the rest of the class was made up of emotional teenage girls who want to express themselves through poetry. And we couldn't alter the words at the end of lines either.